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Comments By T-Rex

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Just checking in, I haven't been around in a while. About 6 months in here at Swift and things are going well. I want to thank you all here at trucking truth. This site and this collection of awesome people played a huge part in me getting this career off of the ground. Trucking truth rocks!

So like I said, I'm about 6 months in and things are good. I bounced around a bit trying to find an account that worked for me and it's awesome that there is that opportunity at Swift. Started OTR obviously. Did Target for like a week around Christmas helping out with "surge", but decided once the snow started to fall that I'd rather not have to fight the clock to make multiple stops a day AND the weather lol. So I briefly went back to OTR and then asked about the automotive account out of my home terminal. Ran that for a couple months.

As fate would have it my DM ended up getting fired and I happened to end up with the one that runs the Canadian fleet out of New Boston, MI. I asked her about it one day and it turned out she was desperate for capable drivers so I told her I'd give it a shot. It all worked out because I really like this account. Michigan to Ontario everyday, mostly short haul, about 250 miles each way give or take. (Sliding pay scale here so I get more per mile) I get a bonus for border crossing everyday and I get to get home to the wife and kids every weekend for a reset.

Hope all is well around here and again I just wanted to stop by and say thanks!

Spent the last day and a half trying to get a load home for Christmas home time to be with the wife and kids. It was super important to me since I spent my first 5 weeks solo without coming home. I was working surge for Target and the planner there tried to get me a load home but kept sending me preplans that I didn't have the hours to run ( I was on recap and only had like 9 hours available) with each plan he sent me I had to call back and go over it and he agreed and had to remove the plan. Finally we decided it was best to call my home terminal and have them switch me back to otr to see if there was something nearby to get me home. I shut down last night waiting on a plan and woke up with nothing. So I drove to the Target dc to drop my empty and got on the phone. Long story short they couldn't find me anything going from Columbus back towards Detroit so they greenlighted me to bobtail all the way home. Couldn't believe they did that considering that ultimately cost Swift the money for fuel. Swift catches a lot of flak in the trucking community but they've certainly done right me and I'm very appreciative. Got back to my home terminal at about 10am this morning and get to wake up Christmas morning with my family and couldn't be happier. Thanks Swift!

I ran Target for almost a year. It was a pretty good deal. Money wasn't as good as OTR, but sleeping at home 90% of the time was great. I was out of Woodland CA miles were about 300- 500 miles a day 6 days a week. What questions do you have in particular?

I really just want to hear your general feeling about the account. Did you enjoy your time there? What region did you run? Any particular issues you had with the account? What do they actually pay per mile once you're officially on the account?

Speaking of pay, I saw on Swift's Facebook account that they are raising the pay for otr reefer. May look into that as well if the Target thing doesn't pan out.

I understand the point of reserved parking, but to the point of literally half the lot is ridiculous. I figured at that point some of the guys were saying screw it and just sliding in. It’s the TA west of Columbus Ohio off I-70. It’s just crazy

I'm at that TA right now and it does get crazy. I've been working out of that Target dc right there for almost a week so I've parked here each night. Luckily I leave the dc bobtail and they have separate bobtail parking.

Anyone here currently running the Target account? I got one of their loads last week out of the West Jefferson (Columbus Oh) dc and liked it and asked them about joining the account. Since the first run went well they said they're basically giving me a trial run. They won't officially add anyone to the account until after the 1st once they get through the holiday surge. They said they typically don't put a driver on this account until they have had six months experience but since I'm already running it I have a good chance. I like it though. Wasn't sure what to expect running reefer but I like the fact that I get to get out of the truck and do something other than drive during the day and I get to interact with a handful of people. Plus it's regional. Being from the Detroit area I'm never really more than half a day away from home. Plus I can take my resets at home if they have a load that will get me there.

Everything has been great so far outside of one difficult back. I had my first blindside 90° back where I had to wrap it around a wall into the dock between some poles and a trailer. Took a few extra pull ups and a bunch of GOALs but I got er done lol.

Anyways just wondered if anyone out here in TT land has any experience with this account they would like to share.

Welcome to the forum. I too got my career started with Swift and I have zero complaints. People like to bash Swift for a variety of reasons but try to focus on the positive. If you work for the biggest company in the business you'll naturally have truckings biggest support staff backing you up. AND all of the freight you can handle. As long as you're out there getting it done they will keep you running. Despite all of the naysayers Swift actually has a good safety rating. It's a numbers game. With as many drivers as they have out there, theyre naturally going to have more attention and more incidents simply because they have more new drivers out there. But there are thousands upon thousands of us out there every day operating safely. They also have a variety of dedicated accounts. Dry van, reefer, even flatbed.

While they don't actually pay you while you're getting your cdl you begin getting paid as soon as you have it. Orientation pays and you start getting an hourly wage once you get on a mentors truck and start driving. I was making roughly $600-700 a week during the 200 training hours with my mentor.

There's a bunch of Swift drivers running around here if you have any further questions. Hopefully Roehl works out for you but if not Swift is a solid option.

AND It's my first time running reefer so I'm actually kind of excited to expand my horizons. Funny how things work out. Was kinda ****ed about losing the load at first but it did lead me to this new adventure so I can't complain.

Finally got another one. Picking up a multistop load out of the Target dc in west Jefferson Ohio and heading up to western Michigan (portage, Kalamazoo and grand rapids). Doesn't pick up until almost midnight tonight so I'm sitting regardless. Like I said, trying not to stress over it. One thing im quickly learning out here is not to stress over things that are beyond my control. Just makes life harder on me and doesn't accomplish anything. Trying to learn to roll with the punches. I know that's something that is said a lot on here by the seasoned vets.

Anyone know what the weather is looking like up in western Michigan? Hoping they haven't been slammed too hard by lake effect snow.

Also, this is my first multistop run so if there's any useful info out there I'm all ears. This will be a useful learning experience as I've considered getting into a dedicated route like this (walmart, target etc).

Yeah I'm sure there will be something else. Trying not to stress over it. 5 hours into my 14 now and it seems Memphis is dragging their feet. Already called a couple times. All they told me was to head back to the truck stop and wait. So I went to the Petro down the street in Perrysburg and drowned my sorrows in a New York strip lol. Looks like a lost day but what can ya do?

Literally... at 10 minute bathroom break before I left the truckstop cost me two loads lol. I arrived at the home depot dc out here in Luckey, Oh a moment before another Swift truck that they gave my load to out to PA. And because of that I'll miss out on the next run up to N.Y. So now I'm sitting here waiting on the planner to get me something else. An unfortunate yet kinda hilarious start to the day.

There's an article on here somewhere about that. It's kind of a gray area. While it may be legal in your home state, you have to take into consideration if the state's or cities you're driving through have laws against it or recognize your state's permit. And most if not all companies have policies against it as well as many shippers and receivers. I have my permit and certainly wish I could carry without concern but to this point I haven't risked it. I carry a knife just in case though.

Swift will hire you. Like others said, as long as you're honest and disclose it an offense that old should be ok. I hate to admit it but I got one when I was a dumb kid and told Swift during the hiring process and it was a non issue. Mine was 12 years ago.

Thanks for the example, Old School. I haven't yet used a split sleeper and I wasn't even 100% certain how to. Crystal clear now. As far as the logging at shippers I will be much more mindful of that and I feel like that is going to alleviate a lot of my problems.

I try to work my clock within the parameters of the law and don't waste time while on duty

That's all good, but when you mention "parameters of the law" I wonder how you perceive what those are. Could you elaborate, or maybe give us an example of how you handle your clock while at a shipper/receiver.

I agree with G-Town. It sounds like you're doing okay, but I'm still curious about how you're logging time at shippers/receivers.

Remember, you're just getting started at this. There's a lot to learn before you're "running with the big dogs."

Perhaps I could use a refresher on when I'm supposed to be on duty at shippers and receivers. It's my understanding that you're supposed to be on duty during live loads/unloads and pretty much anything else done at a shipper/receiver unless they tell you it's going to be a while and you're free to do as you please until they're done.
My mentor had me logging off duty for anything that wasn't driving, pre-trip or fueling and I know that isn't legal.

All of that being said I'm open to constructive criticism and any and all advice you can send my way. I'm fully aware that there is much to be learned in this career and it would be naive of me to expect to "run with the big dogs" right from the start.

Thanks

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